Usually it’s Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas that executes the thievery on the ice. Today, the NHL robbed the goaltender off the ice.

St. Louis netminder Jaroslav Halak was voted as the league’s Second Star of the week, sandwiched between First Star Rene Bourque (Calgary) and Third Star Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay). Halak had a great week, with a 2-0-1 record and a shutout. But his save percentage over those three games was just .943.

Thomas, meanwhile, played in two games and beat the mighty Washington Capitals twice. His save percentage? .973. That sounds like a three-star-worthy week to me.

Maybe if Thomas didn’t squander his own shutout bid with a gift-wrapped pass to the stick of Washington’s Jason Chimera (who buried the puck in the empty net), the league would’ve looked upon Thomas’s week differently. Or maybe this is just another occasion to add to the list of slights against the “Rodney Dangerfield of the NHL.”

If it’s any consolation to Thomas, he ran away with this morning’s TheBruinsBlog.net poll as the club’s player of the week.

After last year and how this one has started, I truly believe that Thomas performs best when people are down on him. So, thank you NHL for not acknowledging Mr. Thomas, it should insure another week of stellar play